SHAH ALAM: Light attack helos. With the MD530G contract effectively cancelled – its not done yet – what kind of light attack helicopters are available to the Army, if it’s in the market for one of course.
The choice is limited of course. Moreover the air wing is already operating 11 AW109 LOH, which are fitted for but not equipped with weapons. It has installed some of the helicopters with MD134 mini guns for fire support.
In a pinch, the Army could just buy the gun and rocket pods to turn the helicopters into light attack helicopters. I was told that Leonardo had offered to upgrade these helicopters for fire support missions though this had not been taken up as the MD530G was supposed to do this. Perhaps in the near future the Army will have to relook at this option.
A comparable helicopter for the role is the Airbus H145M light attack helicopter. At the recent Airbus Trade Media Briefing in Germany, the company presented a more detail over view of the H145M equipped with HForce system. The HForce according to Airbus
HForce is a unique, exhaustive and flexible weapon system designed to meet the requirements of defence agencies seeking light attack mission capabilities or a complement to their existing fleet of specialised attack helicopters.
HForce is the latest-generation Airbus weapon system. It is modular and incremental, and can be fitted onto any military version of Airbus’ commercial helicopter range (H125M, H145M, H225M).
HForce offers a large array of weapons, modern and easy target acquisition and a high level of targeting accuracy, formerly reserved for high-end attack helicopters.
At the last TMB three years ago, the H145M equipped with HForce system was just an offer, now its official program, with two orders, four helicopters for Serbia and 20 for Hungary.
With a maximum take-off weight of 3.7 tonnes, the H145M can be used for a wide range of tasks, including troop transport, utility, surveillance, air rescue, armed reconnaissance and medical evacuation. The Hungarian fleet will be equipped with a fast roping system, highperformance camera, fire support equipment, ballistic protection as well as an electronic countermeasures system to support the most demanding operational requirements. The HForce system, developed by Airbus Helicopters, will allow Hungary to equip and operate their aircraft with a large set of ballistic or guided air-to-ground and air-to-air weapons.
Airbus offers four configuration of the HForce system on its helicopters (apart from the H145M, its also on offer for the H125M, H135M and the H225M) – the basic configuration, fitted for but not equipped; guns pods only; rocket and gun pods and guided weapons with gun and rocket pods.
As posted previously, Airbus had offered the H145M for the RMN maritime operations helicopter. I was told that it was not in the shortlist, however.
Full disclosure: Airbus paid for the trip to Germany for the writer to attend the Trade Media Briefing 2019 in Germany.
— Malaysian Defence
View Comments (34)
imo why no get another AW109??already operate those and have experience in it. its a better way to reduce footprint rather adding another type. but it rest solely on govt and army now. hope it be a fast procurement although i'm skeptical with govt giving funding for it. as a civilian, i can only hope for the best..
But boss, isn't this what you wrote in a previous article: "the real reason for the cancelling the deal is the fact that the Army does not want it anymore"? Talking about it is moot in that case.
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They dont want the MD530G not a light attack helos
buy an additional loh to make it 12 persqdrn..or 3 more loh..Try hard to bring back md530g to malaysia and add 6/12 gunship heli with transport capability like mi 35 hind..
How's the MPA procurement coming along ?
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2021
If airbus can offer used EC225 to ukraine, why not offer them to malaysia too?
As for the army, i would prefer additional AW109s for the light attack functions. Probably adding weapons to the current AW109s and adding a few more used ones for utility and medivac use.
Then get around 2 dozens of used blackhawks to replace the nuri. Australia is retiring theirs, and USA have plenty they can offer through EDA.
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The problem is that the air force don't want them, the EC225.
@ marhalim
"The problem is that the air force don’t want them, the EC225"
So what does the airforce want actually?
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Not second hand EC225s
Before we even start about what the army should or shouldn’t buy; the first question is whether the army wants a light attack helicopter to be used mainly in ESSCOM or does it see also a light attack helicopter having a utility other than within ESSCOM?
If so what roles are this helicopter intended to perform (battlefield observation/recce/light attack/close supper, etc) and how do we balance the capabilities of this helicopter with that of the A-109s to ensure we get the best capabilities both can offer and that there’s no overlap or redundancy.
AW109M would be a logical choice actually. Leonardo also offered integration to existing A109 fleet although H145M would be a more suited platform for a dedicated light attack role.
What's more important is the avionics actually. FLIR is a must as well as NVG cockpit for night flight. The armament is secondary since we didn't really need to arm the helo to the teeth. Pods for 70mm rocket and .50 MG would be suffice. We already have guided FZ rockets for hawks and the hornets and that would be suffice although helo launch ingwe is also an option
They don't want MD530G, H145M, used EC225, used Blackhawks. I bet the dont want list includes AW109, china and russia helis. Hard to fanthom what they want.
@ dundun
" What’s more important is the avionics actually. FLIR is a must as well as NVG cockpit for night flight "
Our current AW109 already has those. You can see the flir turret under the tailroot. It is actually retractable so most of the time you wont see the turret.
http://i2.wp.com/www.elikhbaria.com/a/wp-content/uploads/PDF/A109LUH_865196460.jpg